


Independently Yours

by oh_so_shiny



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cut & Run Fanworks Exchange, Fourth of July, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 06:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2180679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_so_shiny/pseuds/oh_so_shiny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whenever Sidewinder gets together for their annual 4th of July BBQ, it's open season on Ty's love life.  How far will Ty go to get the guys off his case...and will he find love in the process?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Independently Yours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [julietangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/julietangel/gifts).



> Written for julietangel/liebevita on tumblr-
> 
> I tried to wrangle this fic into a single shot, but it wanted to be done in several chapters, so I hope that's ok. Enjoy!

The fourth of July was a family affair, of sorts.

It was an odd family to be sure, consisting as it did of a black Cajun who'd begun to pour lighter fluid on the charcoal in the grill with rather disturbing gusto, a security consultant who originally hailed from NY and watched the proceedings with the distracted air of one trying to calculate how much time he had to run away, a redheaded cop from Boston who lay sprawled in a lawn chair and was well into his 8th beer, and a blue-eyed, easy-going Coloradan Ty suspected was behind the shed working on his Rocky Mountain high. And then there was Ty himself, of course.

As someone who considered himself a southern boy, he would have said that up til now he was used to southern summers. But July in the bayou, Ty thought ruefully, was like licking the goddamn sun.

Cursing at the heat, Ty lifted his wrist to his forehead and made a limp pass with the Buff wrapped around his wrist. "Whose bright idea was it to let Digger host the BBQ this year?" he asked, turning toward Nick.

"Kelly's, I think."

"Go figure. I'd shoot him, but that would require effort on my part."

"I heard that." A low-pitched chuckle and the pungent smell of smoke heralded the return of Sidewinder's medic. Grabbing a beer from a cooler set up beside a wooden table, Kelly Abbott made his way over to Nick and Ty and plopped directly onto the grass at Nick's feet. "What's wrong, Ty? Louisiana in the summer a little too hot to handle?"

"Fuck yes," Ty groaned. "I feel like I'm melting."

"Suck it up, Six," Nick said placidly.

"I can't! It's too hot for sucking!"

"Yeah, that's what she said." Kelly grinned. "And anyway, It's not the heat, it's the-"

Ty pointed a finger at Kelly. "If you say it's the humidity, I'm gonna stab you with a BBQ fork."

"Touchy, touchy." Kelly considered Ty for a moment, peering at him in a manner that made Ty faintly uneasy. It never boded well when Kelly had that look. Looks like that were followed shortly thereafter by suggestions that they all do the polar bear plunge or drive cross-country to see the world's biggest ball of string.

"Or no touchy," Kelly continued. "Maybe that's the problem. When was the last time you got laid, Ty?"

Ty sputtered, flailing as Nick choked on his beer. "What the hell, Doc?"

"Just sayin'. Frequent sex is a great stress reliever - burns calories, reduces blood pressure. Just look at Nick. He has sex all the time, and he's practically in a coma."

"He drank seven and a half fucking beers!" Ty griped, glancing distractedly between a redfaced Nick and the grill where Digger was muttering and Owen was surreptitiously slipping Digger's lighter into the pocket of his shorts.

"Irish? Oh, please. I'll bet he's not even buzzed." Kelly turned to Nick. "Are you even buzzed?"

Wiping at his eyes with a napkin, Nick shot a crooked grin in Ty's direction. "Nope."

"See," Kelly said, turning back to Ty, "he's not buzzed."

"Is that your expert diagnosis?"

"Yep, but that's besides the point."

"There's a point to this?"

"Yeah." Kelly paused. "I'm pretty sure there was."

"Ty's sex life," Nick supplied helpfully, and Ty cursed his best friend under his breath. _Traitor_.

"Oh, yeah! " Kelly snapped his fingers. "Thanks, Irish."

"Anytime, babe."

"Hey, slackers. What's up?"

A momentary - but very welcome - distraction came in the form of Owen Johns, who had left the grill and, after stopping by the cooler to grab a beer, made his way over to where they sat.

"Hey O-Man," Ty said with perhaps a touch more enthusiasm than the situation warranted. "Thought you were supervising the the fire bug over there."

Owen shrugged. "I decided that I value my life, so I decided to come over and see what you guys were doing."

"We're talking about Ty's sex life," Kelly said. "Care to join?"

Owen froze mid-sip. "You know what? On second thought, I'll take my chances with Digger. See you guys on the flip side."

Ty sighed as Owen walked back toward the grill, feeling like he was watching the last lifeboat on the Titanic sail away without him. "I am not doing this. I refuse to talk about my sex life with you clowns," Ty stated, crossing his arms.

"All I'm saying is that maybe there's a reason you're so grumpy, Ty."

"I'm not grumpy, goddamnit!" Ty growled and immediately groaned as Nick and Kelly exchanged knowing looks.

"See? Grumpy," Kelly said triumphantly, plucking Nick's beer from his hands and taking a swig. Nick simply snorted and got up from his chair, heading toward the cooler for another beer.

" _You_ make me grumpy, not the lack of sex. Which there isn't. A lack, I mean. I get plenty of girls." Great, now he sounded like an idiot _and_ he was discussing his sex life. Ty brought both hands to his face and began to massage his temples. "I've got girls on tap."

"That's what happens when you date barmaids," Nick remarked, settling back into his lawn chair with his new beer.

Ty shot Nick a withering glance. "Cute, O. Cute."

"Maybe they're just not doing it for you," Kelly said thoughtfully. "Have you tried guys?"

Shuffling through his usual repetoire of bullshit responses, Ty hesitated. As a matter of fact, he had, but it wasn't something he'd ever been able to bring himself to talk about. He'd thought about telling his friends that he liked guys a hundred times, but it never seemed to be the right time or place. Maybe...just maybe, while they were all sitting here relaxed and the liquid lubrication was flowing, maybe it was finally time to go for it.

Although he would have preferred to spill his guts in air conditioning.

"I think I broke him," Kelly said after a moment.

Nick stared at Ty as the silence grew thicker. "I think you might have," he said slowly, bright green eyes boring into Ty's with laser focus. "Tyler, is there something you wanna say?"

"Yeah," Ty sighed, knowing Nick wouldn't let it go. It was what made him such a good cop and an even better friend, Ty admitted grudgingly. "I like girls... And I like guys. I've dated both. I date both, I mean."

"I wish I'd known sooner," Nick said softly.

"Why? So you could ditch me?"

"No, jackass." Nick leaned forward and grabbed Ty's shoulder. "Because it would have made Basic a lot less lonely."

For a moment, Ty's world stopped. "You mean, you...?"

Nick grinned slowly, giving Ty a squeeze. "Yep."

Ty's jaw dropped for several seconds before closing with an audible click. "Well shit."

"So you're both bi?"

Both Ty and Nick started at the sound of Kelly's voice. Ty turned toward him, afraid of what he might see on the other man's face, but Kelly didn't look disgusted. If anything, he was staring at Nick with a look that was somewhere between fascination and something else Ty couldn't quite identify. "What's that like?"

Shifting his gaze from Kelly back to Nick, Ty consciously relaxed his shoulders and leaned back. "Yeah, O, what's it like?"

Nick laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "It's fucking awesome."

Ty grinned, ducking his head. "Yeah, it is."

"Does it work the same with guys as it does with girls?" Kelly asked, moving closer to Nick.

"You a little bi-curious, Doc?"

Kelly tilted his head, considering. "Maybe," he said after a moment. "A gorgeous person is a gorgeous person, right? Why not explore all the options?"

"I think you're omnivorous," Nick replied fondly.

"Hey, Irish?"

"What?"

"Will you kiss me?"

"Oh, Jesus Christ," came a loud voice from the direction of the grill. "Digger, if you say you're into guys too, I'm throwing myself on the grill."

"Nah, man," Digger cackled, and Ty heard Owen curse as the grillmaster plucked a book of matches out of his shirt pocket, tearing one free and lighting it. "I'm strictly into the ladies."

Ty couldn't help it, he threw his head back and laughed. These were his brothers-in-arms, his friends...beautiful, brilliant crazy motherfuckers, every last one of them. He laughed even as the sudden tower of flame that shot eight feet into the air over the grill brought all conversation to a fiery end.

 

 


End file.
